Memoirs of General William T. Sherman

William "Cump" Sherman was arguably the best, most imaginative and original general the American army has ever produced. He single handedly invented modern warfare. He was the first to recognize that winning wars was a matter of destroying the enemies economic, industrial and agricultural base, not forcing their army to retreat or surrender as had been the goal of previous generals in previous wars. Sherman changed the face and nature of war. His is the strategy followed by all armies from the civil war to the Vietnam war.
This does not make his auto-biography easy to read or enjoyable however. I have read about 80% of this book and I must say it is tedious, long winded and at times pompous. Those sections dealing with Cump's early life in Ohio and West Point time as well as those dealing with major battles in the civil war are interesting and readable. The remainder is much less so. Although Sherman is listed as the author I find it difficult to believe he did not have help from a political speech writer of the kind we see and hear in the current and previous White House administrations. There are too many words and occasional bouts of hyperbole. I give it 4 stars and urge you to read it if you have any interest in American history. Should you have no interest in history one would be wise to give the book a pass.